In the afternoon they would each drink a glass of milk and eat a bread roll; it was normally hard and tough to tear apart, especially for those who's teeth wouldn't be as strong. On nice sunny days the girl would have this small meal outside in the tall grass just past the rotting front porch of the house. Her mother could see her through the front window so she wasn't all too concerned about her being outside, besides it was miles away from any people, and those who were seen were normally kids on school outings picking berries and being taught some ecological/botanical lessons.
One very warm afternoon, the girl went out to eat her meal on the rock in the middle of the tall grass, when she heard a hissing sound. The sound grew and before she knew it there was in front of her, a large grey-green grass snake. It hissed continuously while wrapped slithering up the girls body, resting on her lap like a household pet. The girl was frightened but was always taught by her mother to not make any sudden movements if she did encounter any snakes by the stream, it was unusual for them to come in this far away from the water.
Up looked the snake's head towards the girl, as if to greet her. She offered it some of her bread roll, to which it stuck its thick forked tongue and retracted the bread into its body. This brought a smile to the girls face and she continued to feed the snake small bits of her food. After a short while the snake slithered back down the girls body and went back through the grass in the direction of the streams.
The next day the girl again went to the same spot, in hope that the snake would return, and return it did. The same as the previous day happened, it lay up on her lap and ate some of the roll, she offered the snake some of her milk but it wasn't to the snake's taste. Her mother was looking out the window always at her daughter but the snake was not in view, the angle in which the girl sat obstructed her vision of the reptile, along with it's camouflaged look.
Each day she would go out and see what she know called "Snakey" and spend some time listening to it hiss and watch it relax in the daylight sun. She would gently rub its head and body, this made the hissing sound as if it was feeling content, the same way a cat would purr when getting it's belly rubbed. No passing mice or frogs would bother the relaxed reptile, it was happy in the company of the little girl , and the feeling was mutual.
Her mother got a call with some good news a few days later. It was that she was offered a job in the town about 40 minutes away. She was overcome with joy, this meant she could giver her daughter a better life and they could both eat better, no more rations or living day to day. She couldn't wait to break the news to her child.
Out she went to inform her, but she wanted to creep up on her and surprise her. She could see her little girl sitting on the rock with her back facing her, all that was going through her mind was that from now on they could both have a proper warm meal at the table each evening. She out her eyes around her daughter head, covering her eyes; "Guess what news mommy has for you darling" she asked her in a joyful manner.
A second later she heard a loud and aggressive hissing sound coming from her daughters body. Much to her shock, she seen the snake on her little girls lap and immediately grabbed it by its head; pinning it to the ground. The little girl screamed for her to let go but her mother to go inside now, to get as far away as she could. Her daughters words were just noise in the background as she was in fight mode to protect her girl. She took out a knife from her hip belt and cut the snakes head off. The body and head were bagged before she went back inside the house to see if there were any bites on her girl.
Inside the girl was weeping, she seen her mom standing there with the bloody bag and knew what had happened. Her mother was confused to why she was so upset with her, thinking she just saved her daughter from this animal, maybe she was still in shock she thought to herself, she tried to hug and care for her daughter but she ran into her room and cried for the evening.
The next morning, mom went into the girls room to find her laying in a pool of sweat with an alarmingly high fever. After trying to lower the fever with some home remedies, she called the doctor out from town she got her new job in. Within a half hour the doctor arrived, he was rushed inside to take a look at her but he was totally perplexed by this. He said that she will have to be taken to hospital for further treatment. None of this made sense to the doctor.
He stepped out of her room to ring the hospital to inform them. By the time he went back inside the room the girl was dead, her breathing had stopped completely, she was as pale as someone who had been dead for days. Her mother went into a total meltdown, falling to the ground and screaming with pain over the loss of her little girl. The doctor covered the girl's body and placed her into his car, her mom sat in the back holding her in her arms, sobbing throughout.
She stayed with her sister for week, she couldn't face going back to her house straight away. Her job was gone, she was in no way or form to attend for work. All she wanted to do was to sit alone in darkness and numb the pain she was feeling, but she knew sooner rather than later she would have to return home.
Her sister went with her and walked her inside, she was shaking uncontrollably and the tears once again flowed down her face. Her daughters room door had still been opened from that day and she decided she wanted to go in to her room, no matter how hard it was, she needed to go in.
Inside she could smell her daughters scent still lingering, it was exactly as she left it, as if she was still alive. She looked inside her daughters bedside locker drawers to collect all her belongings, this is where she seen a sheet of paper with a drawing on it. It was a drawing of a grey-green grass snake and titled "Snakey" with a heart on it.
Mom quickly remembered the snake she killed the day before her daughter passed away and went out to check on it's dead body in the bag tied on the back door. She opened the bad but there nothing inside, no head, no body, no blood, nothing at all............
